The Salvador Sanchez Story

Known regionally for excellence in wound care, Casa Colina Hospital’s Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine Center provides advanced care by certified clinical specialists, including a complete continuum of prevention, intervention, and treatment services all on Casa Colina’s 20-acre Pomona campus.

In 2023, Salvador “Sal” Sanchez found himself in need of such help. Living with type II diabetes for some time, he had not only developed a foot ulcer that wouldn’t heal on its own, but also had a protruding bone, known as diabetic foot osteomyelitis (DFO).

Diabetic foot wounds are known for being particularly difficult to heal, while the DFOs that sometimes accompany these wounds typically require surgery to correct. As the 69-year-old Ontario, California resident had learned firsthand, individuals with type II diabetes often experience lack of sensation in the feet—known as neuropathy—which can then lead to the individual literally wearing a hole in their foot. The risk of infection had gotten to a critical point for Sal. When an infection occurs in a diabetic foot wound and is not controlled, this can sometimes result in tragic consequences, including amputation of the foot or lower leg.

He needed expert care quickly, and preferably in one location.

Luckily, Sal was referred to Casa Colina’s Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine Center by his primary care physician, where he met Dr. Chia-Ding Shih, a doctor of podiatric medicine (DPM) and expert in treating diabetic foot wounds.

Dr. Shih soon developed a personalized treatment plan for Sal that included “off-loading” to relieve downward pressure on the wound, antibiotics, lifestyle changes to get his blood sugar under control, and a cleaning and bandaging routine to encourage healing.

After a year of successful outpatient wound treatment, Sal was finally able to undergo surgery at Casa Colina. Dr. Shih performed the procedure, shaving down the protruding foot bone and setting Sal on the path to a full recovery.

Sal credits Dr. Shih and the Wound Care and Hyperbaric Medicine Center nursing staff for their knowledge and professionalism during his time as an outpatient at Casa Colina. Now that he has completed therapy, he's back to everyday activities he couldn’t do before the treatment, like driving and spending quality time with his granddaughters.

“Everything was positive,” says Sal. “The facilities, the doctors and nurses. I would definitely recommend Casa Colina to family and friends who need the same kind of care.”